Cooking device



Feb. l"7,- 1953 J. H. HILLDALE 2,628,738

COOKING DEVICE Filed Nov. 5, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet l ILL 9 @HW j' W4 wg/ Feb. 17, 1953. J. H. HILLDALE 2,628,738

COOKING DEVICE Filed Nov. 5, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. H. HILLDALE COOKING DEVICE Feb. 17, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 5, 1947 Patented Feb. 1,7, 1953 UNITED "STATES lPATENT OFFICE COOKING DEVICE John H. Hlldale, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Proctor Electric Company, Philadelphia, Pa., `-2l. corporation o f Pennsylvania.

Application November 5, 1947, Serial No. 784,245

'5. Claims. (CL 5220-1-23) This invention relates to cookingvessels, and4 'f more particularly to those Vesselshaving dividers by means oi which diiierent foods may be vcooked without mixing. 'While the invention is particularly concerned with pressure cookers, it isl not limited thereto.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide an auxiliary container within a cooking vessel such as apressure cooker, and it has been proposed to provide such a container removably attached tothe lid or cover of such a vessel. Prior devices of this characterhave been impractical, however, because the auxiliary container `must' be removed from the lid in order to place food therein. In

. many instances of use of such a device,V particularly in the case of a pressureV cooker, it is desired to place food in the auxiliary container after other food in the main vessel is partially cooked and' while the vessel is in a heated condition. The necessity' of removal of the auxiliary container makes it difficult to do so and subjects'the V: user to serious danger 'of beingv burned.

The vprincilgial object` ofthe present invention is to provide a'practical and highly useful cookingdevice of the general character above men- 2 tioned.

` The invention has for a'further object'the pro- .vision of a divider for a lidded cooking vessel which permits the user to place foods to be cooked into the heated vessel with a minimum of annoy- 4ance from hotv steam and with a'minimumof danger of being burned due to contact with the heated vessel.

`- Another object is the vprovision" ofxxmeans whereby different colored vegetables may be cooked in the same container without dangerof discoloration due to the now of coloring juices from one compartment to another. A still further object is to provide'for th'emore complete utilization of the V'space within 'acookying vessel such that better-cooking economy is realized.

A Other'objects and features of the invention f.v will ble-apparent from thefollowing detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 isla plan view of a pressure cooker embodying lthe present invention;

L `Figp2 is a view showing the pressure cooker in sectionVK along line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional `view showing more 1i clearly one of the retainer elements forthe 'aux- Viliar'yfood container;

Fig. 4 is a perspective'view"l of the pressure 4cookerlid withthe auxiliary foodcontainer re- ..,movedtherefrom;

Fig'. 5 is a perspective view oi'` the auxiliary food container with the central partition removed Fig. 9 isa fragmentary sectional view illustrating a modication of the device shown inFigs. 7

and 8;

Fig. l is a perspective'view of another form of the device provided by the invention;

l1 is a fragmentary sectional View Vtaken along a vertical plane through thel line lI-ll Fig. l2 is asimilarview showingcertain ofthe yparts in different positions; and

Fig. i3 is a detailview looking atone of the springelements in side elevation, and showing the manner in which" the springy elements are actuated. `Referring iirst` to Figs. 1 and 2,the pressure cooker shown therein is of the vtype disclosed andclaimed in a copending application of C. R. Turner, Seri-al No. 672,363, filed May 27,1946,

" now Patent No.,2,570,993.

Thispressure cooker'comprises a vessel' I` hav- `ing a handle 2A anda lid 3 having a handle 4.

When the lidis in place as shown, the lid handle i is latched to the vessel handle V2 b'ylatching means comprising a latch member 5 projecting downward from the lidhandle and a cooperative latch member withinv the vessel-'handle 2. 'The present `invention is not concerned with the details of construction of the pressure cooker, the

vcooker shown being intended'rnerely as representative of a cooking device with which the present invention may be associated.` It is unnecessary,

therefore, to `describe the pressure cookerfurther.

' In accordance with the present invention, an auxiliaryiood container is removably suspended from the underside of the lid 3 so Ythat said fcontainer is vdisposed. within the cooking vessel I when the lid is in place thereon, as clearly shown Y in Fig. 2.

in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6,the auxiliary food 'container 6 is remov- Jably supported onfthe lid by means of spring clips "permanently secured to the lid' il` andby means rif-cooperative openings 8 inthe wall of the contrainer which openings are adapted to `receive the .depending portions of the spring clips, as may be clearly seen inFig's.` 2 and 3'. The spring clips 7 may be permanentlysecured to the lid 3 in any'suitable manner, as by brazing orfrivetsaid compartments.

. shown in, Figs. 1 to 6, the auxiliary food Vcon- .means of a centrai partition ii.

Figs. 2 and 5, the container t is formed at its attached to the lid 3, during the applic-ation or n removal oi' the lid.

In further accordance With 4the invention, the

tends through a slot opening 37 in the partition .912., VThe latter end portion of the spring memauxiliary food container 5 is adapted for insertion or removal or" food without separation or removal of the container from the lid., Itispreferred also that the auxiliary food container shall be divided into a plurality of compartments in order that diierent foods may be placed in In the specic embodiment tainer is divided into two compartments by As shown in ing projecting tabs ifi. which seat in siots iii provided on, the container wall, and the partition also having bottom tabs i6 which seat in slots in .the strip i i.

A pair of doors il and i 8 are hingedly attached to the strip ii by means of simple hinge structures i9 and 2t (see Fig. 2), and these doors serve to close the openings i2 and i3 through which access is had to the compartments of the container. y knobs 2i and 22 having latch arms 23 and 2i f rIhe doors are provided with rotatable secured thereto, said arms serving with the fia-nge i3 to latch the doors in closed position,

i as shown inFig. 2.

.Anotherembodiment of the device is shown in Figs. f7 and 8. In this instance, the pressure cooker lid 3a has recesses in itsperipheral flange portion to receive spring tabs 26 provided on the wall of the auixilary food container. 6a. vThe ..-partition 9a is permanently secured to the container wall, as by means of flanges 27 at the ends of the partition. At the bottom of thepartition, there is provided a hinge pin 28 which extends I diametricallyacross the bottom ofthe container. A pair of doors Vla and] 8a are hingedlyattached to the pin 28., and a spring 29 urges the doors toward closed position. VThe doors are provided ...with spring clips 30..and 3|which `are easily engageable by the ngers to open the. doors, `and l whichare cooperative to holdthe doors open, 60

as shown in dot-and-dash outline in Fig. '7. ,1. If desired, the spring `clips inthe. device of Figs. 7 and 8 may be utilized to hold the doors in closed position, eliminating ther need for the j spring 29. As shown in Fig. 9, each of the `spring clips of Fig. '7 may be bent as at 32 to'resiliently engage the associated edge of the container 6a so as to hold the door in closed position.

. In Figs. 10 to 13, there is shownanotherform fr of the device in which the partition 9bis permanently secured to the wall of the'container 6b in the manner of the device shown in Figs. '7A and 8,

and the doors l'lb and |82) are hingedly mounted on arhinge pin 28a. `Inpthis instance, however, a y pair of spring members inthe form of yresilient l'rods 33;and 34-are associatedjwith thedoors and 4 are arranged for over-center action so that each spring member will hold the associated door either in closed position or in open position. The mounting of spring member 33 is clearly illustrated in the iigures, and, as will be seen presently, the two springs are similarly mounted. Re-

ferring to the spring'member 33, one end of this member is anchored (Figs. 10 and 12) by means of a tab 35 turned out from the partition 9b. Intermediate its ends, the spring member 33 is supported by another tab- 36 turned out from the partition 9b. The other end of this spring member isbent, as shown in Figs. 11 to 13, and exber extends transversely and downwardly, as at 3S, and is Vcurved as at Sii. The extreme end .portion is bent to provide an extension it which is freely held by a tubular retaining element il on the vdoor E813.

Considering the operation. of .the door i817,

ber 33 is in its nfthe open pos.A

isA slightiy beyond the .Linge pin i3d, as may be soon as the end portion @lo p hinge pin the resilience ci the springmemai po solid line represen tion in silience of said h closed position i3, Ythe ree door. in its is moved to i2, porthe support n, as shown in the member seen in Fig. 12,. and the door is held open by the in a downwardiy iiexed YWhen tl door is moved back toward its closed p ses beyond the ber is eiective to move the door totheclosed position.

The vother spring member 3d is similarly ar -ranged in opposite relation to the Yspring Vmember 33 and on the opposite side or" partition 9b. As

,may be seen in Fig. 10, the ymovable portion [i2 of spring member 3d extends through a slot opening 43 in the partition 9b, andthe extreme end portion 134 of said member is freely held by a tubular retaining element 45 on the door I'Ib.

` n The operation of the door IIb and its associated spring `member 34 is the same as in the case of the'other .door and its associated spring member.

It will be noted that in this embodiment of the device, the. doors are held open or closed individually by their respective spring members, which facilitates use of the device. The user .caneasily hold the pressure cooker lid in inverted position with one hand while using the other hand to manipulate the doors of the auxiliary food-container and to place food therein.

It .will. be-seen f from the .foregoing description of the illustrated embodiments that the invention character heretofore proposed. The device of the invention is particularly .useful on a pressure cooken as it makes possible the simultaneous cooking of foodswhich require different cooking c times. For example, a slow-cooking food may be aryA container for simultaneous cooking with the partially cooked in the main vessel, and then quick-cooking foods can be inserted in the auxilirst food. This merelyrrequires reduction of the fzsteamrpressureand removal of the lid. Insertion of. foods in thev auxiliary container may be easily accomplished by turning :thezlidzupside down.

Thus, the auxiliary container may be filled and emptied without disturbing the remaining contents of the cooking vessel and without inconvenience or difliculty on the part of the user.

It will be understood, of course, that the subdivision of the auxiliary container into a plurality of compartments is an optional feature, and furthermore the number of such compartments is a matter of choice.

It is to be understood further that the illustrated embodiments are not intended to limit the invention which is obviously capable of various forms of physical expression.

I claim:

1. A steam pressure cooker adapted for the cooking of food in the lower portion thereof by the combined heat and pressure within said cooker, comprising a vessel having an open upper end, a lid bodily removable from said vessel and adapted to close said open end in pressure sealing relation, an auxiliary food container attached to the underside of said lid and adapted for the reception of food to be cooked in the upper portion of said cooker by the combined heat and pressure within said cooker, said container having a partition therein dividing said container into at least two vertically disposed ycompartments each with an opening in the bottom thereof for the inserting or removing of food into or from the compartments without separation of said container from said lid, hinged closure means for each of said openings, and means for maintaining said closure means in closed position but permitting selective opening thereof, said container being adapted for insertion and removal of food into and from the compartments thereof by removing and inverting said lid and container to dispose said openings upwardly, whereupon the user may selectively open said closure means, insert or remove food into or from one or more of said compartments, operate said closure means to closed position, and replace the lid and associated container on said cooker.

2. A steam pressure cooker as defined in claim 1 wherein said partition is readily removable from and replaceable within said auxiliary food container to permit selective use of the entire container for the cooking of one food when said partition is removed or of the individual compartments for the cooking of different foods when said partition is in place Within said container.

3. A steam pressure cooker as dened in claim 1 wherein the hinged closure means for the bottom openings of each compartment are mounted on a common hinge and a spring element is provided for each closure means, each or" said spring elements being arranged for over-center action with respect to the axis of said common hinge upon movement of the closure means between fully closed and fully open positions, whereby to hold the closure means in either of said positions.

4. A steam pressure cooker as dened in claim 1 wherein the hinged closure means for the bottom openings are mounted on a common hinge and wherein interengageable spring clips are provided on said closure means for engagement when said closure means are in open position to resiliently maintain the same in said open position.

5. A steam pressure cooker as deiined in claim 4 wherein said spring clips resiliently engage the wall dening the bottom opening of said auxiliary food container when said closure means are in closed position to resiliently maintain the same in said position.

JOHN H. HILLDALEI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 594,564 Schaellibaum Nov. 30, 1897 819,940 Smith May 8, 1906 1,037,625 Hofer Sept. 3, 1912 1,196,385 Mutch Aug. 29, 1916 1,227,463 Luyties May 22, 1917 1,444,043 Slocornb Feb. 6, 1923 1,606,811 Schilke Nov. 16, 1926 1,657,152 Dahl Jan. 24, 1928 1,804,163 Herold May 5, 1931 2,065,908 Pihl Dec. 29, 1936 2,187,029 Hevers Jan. 16, 1940 2,522,152 Wilson Sept. 12, 1950 

